A poetry competition marking poet Robert Burns' birthday has shown his legacy is still alive and well, writes Rebecca Fox.
It appears appears many poetry writers have been reading one of Robert Burns most famous poems, Tam o' Shanter, if entries in the poetry competition held in his honour are anything to go by.
The annual Robert Burns Poetry Competition attracted a range of entries from New Zealand and overseas the judges, writer Helen Williford-Lower and Burns Fellow Louise Wallace, said.‘‘We noticed a lot of emphasis on Tam o'Shanter in different ways.
A lot of people must have been reading Tam o'Shanter,'' Ms Williford-Lower said.
‘‘His spirit has been well-represented.''
There was also a lot of humour in the entries overall, which was nice, she said.
‘‘It is amazing how much he still gets people to be passionate, to laugh and to really enjoy life.''
The number of youth entries had also increased, which was one of the goals of this year's competition.
This year's winner in the published section is chartered accountant and mother Nicola Thorstensen (49), of Dunedin.
Her piece Blood Be Thicker than Liquor was entered in both English and Scots.
‘‘We really like to see that.''
It also had the edge over the second placegetter because it was a poem that could be read in a few decades and still be enjoyed, she said.
Ms Thorstensen started writing poetry in 2012 and has had some work published in the Takahe magazine and was third in the unpublished section of the Robert Burns competition in 2013.
The winner of the unpublished section is Christina Hulbe (49), a University of Otago professor and dean of the National School of Surveying.
When she arrived in Dunedin, she embarked on a project to ‘‘re-envision'' Robert Burns' songs in New Zealand contexts.
‘‘The song lyrics Burns wrote down were mainly his own versions of traditional tunes so my project seems in line with what he was doing, though I depart a lot from the originals.''
Her winning entry The Collier's Shadow was written like that, she said.
‘‘Robert Burns' version of the Collier Laddie is a jolly little tune about a lassie who would not trade her simple life with her collier laddie for all the riches a local squire might offer.
‘‘The song isn't romantic about the collier. It's romantic about a simple life lived day to day without worry for money or much else. I don't think you could write that way about coal miners' lives in New Zealand today.''
The judges liked the fact the poem was set to a known song which was ‘‘very Burnsian'', Ms Williford-Lower said.
‘‘I'd love to hear it sung. It's a haunting poem in that romantic style.''
Youth section winner Jolyon Bishop's entry the Bard of Ayrshire was a clever biography of Burns and a review of his poetic form, she said.
The 11-year-old, who was an avid reader and keen writer, moved to New Zealand with his family only five weeks ago and was settling in to a new life in Wellington.
Results
Published: Nicola Thorstensen, 1; C.J. O'Brien, 2; David Fountain, 3.
Unpublished: Christina Hulbe, 1; Stewart Webster, 2; Alex Familton, 3.
Youth: Jolyon Bishop, 1; E. Wen Wong, 2; Chloe Robertson, 3.
